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Title: Hidden Social Costs of Precarious Employment: Marriage Formation in a Period of Rising Precarity
Resulting in 1 citation.
1. Kofman, Yelizavetta
Hidden Social Costs of Precarious Employment: Marriage Formation in a Period of Rising Precarity
Presented: San Francisco CA, American Sociological Association Annual Meeting, August 2014
Cohort(s): NLSY97
Publisher: American Sociological Association
Keyword(s): Benefits, Fringe; Employment; Gender Differences; Job Characteristics; Job Tenure; Marriage

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

The transition to adulthood has become increasingly prolonged since the late 1970s. Despite widespread public and scientific concern, the exact mechanisms that delay the transition to adulthood are largely unknown. This paper argues that part of the answer lies in examining another key contemporary trend: the rise of precarious employment since the 1970s and the attendant increase in uncertainty and risk for workers. I examine the effects of precarious employment (i.e. jobs with a nonstandard employment relationship, short tenure, and/or lack of benefits) on first marriage, one traditional marker of adulthood. Using data from the NLSY97, I find that the odds of having a first marriage are reduced for women (but not men) that have a nonstandard job or a job with short tenure. Further, having a job that lacks health insurance and retirement benefits reduces the odds of first marriage for both men and women. More work on disentangling the causal effects and mechanisms of precarious employment are necessary as this phenomenon continues to grow.
Bibliography Citation
Kofman, Yelizavetta. "Hidden Social Costs of Precarious Employment: Marriage Formation in a Period of Rising Precarity." Presented: San Francisco CA, American Sociological Association Annual Meeting, August 2014.